About Demon's SoulsKing Allant the XII, the last king of Boletaria, searched tirelessly to expand his might. The Nexus, a great ice shrine nestled in the mountains, bestowed the power of the souls onto him, bringing prosperity to his kingdom. Still unsated, he returned again to the Nexus, where he foolishly awakened the Old One from its eternal slumber. This long forgotten evil, now wrought upon Boletaria, plunged the realm into darkness and fog. A mighty demon horde poured into the kingdom, devouring the souls of men.

Champions from other realms learned of Boletaria's fate and sought to deliver the kingdom from evil; none would return from the cursed land. Called upon by a mysterious maiden in black, you go forth, the last hope for humanity in a place lost to demons and darkness...

Key Features

Ultimate hardcore RPG challenge -- In this brutal land, death is inevitable, but not final. Combining the best features of an action game and RPG, you'll slice, smash, shoot, and ensorcel some of the most horrible, vicious enemies ever encountered. Are you strong enough to face the impossible and win?

Groundbreaking online capabilities -- Network features go far beyond any previous RPG, allowing players to leave hints for each other, replay death scenes, cooperatively revive dead players, or invade another player's game to wreak havoc. Not merely an add-on feature, multiplayer options are vast, and uniquely focused on changing and intensifying the single player experience.

Freeform and flexible -- The open-ended structure of the game means that there is no single path, but rather a wealth of options. Set your own pace and progress as you like. Build exactly the character you want by creating a detailed avatar, nurturing the right stats, and customizing your skills and equipment.

You act, the world reacts -- The World Tendency system changes the aggressiveness of monsters and the rewards for killing them based on players' actions. Different events and NPCs may be triggered, as well.

This is an action RPG developed by SCE and From Software. Player must hunt down demons in order to save the kingdom. Information such as where you are supposed to go or how to defeat demons is intentionally provided in limited amount, so the player has to discover by try-and-error. This, instead of being nuisance, is the appeal of the game. Also, for online co-op, there are interesting features such as leaving a dying message to leave a clue for other players.

Pros: Due to its high difficulty, there will be many unreasonable deaths, but because of that there is a big catharsis in finding out how to over come the obstacle. Control is very responsive and simple, so fighting against enemy is a breeze. Character making and leveling up give you a lot of freedom, so creating a character of your own is quite enjoyable.

Cons: You can't pause during game. Because of its serious and tense atmosphere and game structure, it's really not for casual gamers.

Director: Hidetaka Miyazaki From Software Production Team 1 Chief Director

"The Reason for Creating a Fantasy Game Again"

- How did the team-up of SCE and From Software come about?

Horii: I have been a huge fan of games from From Software, especially King's Field series. One day I had a chance to visit the company, and in a brief conversation I asked, "You have no plans for making a sequel?" Then somehow conversation started heating up and ended up promising to create something together.

Miyazaki: When the project came in, I was mainly working on Armored Core series, and both the company and I personally have been away from creating a fantasy game, so there was a strong feeling inside me to do one. I guess the timing was perfect. Also I thought that teaming up with SCE could cause a chemical reaction to create something with new possibility. And we did get a lot of advices and inspiration that From Software alone could never come up with.

Horii: Being a fan of From Software means I did have some problems with their games. If it was a sequel of King's Field, there would have been things that couldn't be changed because of tradition of the series, but by collaborating with them on new IP, we could create something new. I remember we made a major change on something almost out of my ego.

Miyazaki: We also experimented with violence to push the envelope.

Horii: Because I'm from SCE, we tend to be careful with the rating, but we did some extreme things.

Miyazaki: For instance, I thought treasure boxes were quite unnatural in a battle field, so they were replaced with glowing dead bodies of other warriors. We convinced them that we still needed treasure hunting element in the game. In a way, we took liberty on this more than games published by ourselves. My boss peeked at the screen and asked me whether Sony would sign off on these things. (laughs)

"A Game System With Feel of Free Adventure"

- Looking at the story and the main character, there seem to be quite a lot of freedom.

Miyazaki: Main character is the player himself. You can set the name, sex, and of course facial features and appearances. The fact that the protagonist is nameless is in a sense very From Software-ish. The purpose of the game is given to you in minimum amount, and you won't be forced to pursue it. There will be some people telling you to "save the world," but you can say no and the game still goes on.

Horii: I think it does have a lot of freedom. The difference between weapons isn't in the parameter but in the moves, and it changes the whole tactics. Even with a same weapon, the motion will change depending on whether you grip it with one hand or both hands. The game won't give you a helpful hand telling you what to do next, so how the story progresses and style of play will depend on the player. There are many episodes.. (unreadable)

"A Game That Feels Like a Game on Playstation 3"

- What is the aim of this game coming from the company that made the system?

Horii: We are trying to create a game with distinctively new feel while being a traditional, carefully crafted action RPG. We want the gameplay itself to evolve rather than cutscenes or graphics.

Miyazaki: We are always thinking of ways to tell the joy of classic RPG with modern technology. For example, long weapons will be hard to wield in small corridor or torch lighting up the dungeon in realtime. We want to express things that we have ignored in past generation and integrate it in the gameplay. By doing what Wizardry games did in commands by player's action, realism, speed, and immersiveness will be enhanced greatly. We call it a "strategic action," but it's a system with strategic element in classic RPGs in mind.

Horii: It's not exactly a pure action game where you need reflex and button mashing ability. Rather, you need to... (unreadable) It's more of an tactical action.

Miyazaki: We want to create a "videogame that feels like a videogame" that we used to play when we were little with the latest technology, and I believe we see a new possibility in that direction. But because a small tweak changes the whole balance of the game, we are taking a lot of time balancing the gameplay.

- It seems like there will be a lot of discussion among each other in terms of the balance.

Horii: As a SCE title, it's preferable to have the game played by wide variety of audience, but because I'm a fan of From Software, it's leaning toward "From Software" balance. (laughs) These days the general consensus is that a game is better when it can be beaten easily, but I think a game used to be something you try again and again because you want to kill the enemy that killed you. By making a game which you can enjoy the process of trying, I want to wake up the gamers who are being used to easy games.

Miyazaki: But that doesn't necessarily mean we are making it insanely hard. There will always be a good reason why you die, like "you forgot to kill the archers" or "stepped inside without caution and surrounded by enemies." If you analyze and think, you will be able to progress even if you are not good at action games, and that means even if you are, you will get stuck if you don't think.

I heard what gives the game a mixed review (it did very well at Dengeki) is because it's hard. It's one of those games where if you die, you start back from a distance.

I like hard games, but games that make you start way back annoy me. I'm fine with SMT, because if I don't save before a big fight it's my fault in that. That said, this sounds interesting so I'm hoing it comes over. Might as well just release it with subtitles, the people who will really be interested will be perfectly happy with subtitles.

I like hard games, but games that make you start way back annoy me. I'm fine with SMT, because if I don't save before a big fight it's my fault in that. That said, this sounds interesting so I'm hoing it comes over. Might as well just release it with subtitles, the people who will really be interested will be perfectly happy with subtitles.

If it comes stateside, it WILL have English voiceacting, since it's a requirement by SCEA.

I thought I saw somewhere it had the first person view option, but can't remember.

It's not loading for me either. I think he's playing alone. From what I can tell he's grinding for better equipment right now. He keeps getting his ass handed to him every time he gets to a boss.

Wow. It also appears that the bosses have health indicators which is my single biggest complaint with Monster Hunter. IMO it makes all the brutal regular enemy fights, the lack of character leveling and the equipment loss all fair. If I know what I'm up against it makes it a lot harder to tolerate a hard fight. God damn I want this game.

Edited by cochesecochese, 04 February 2009 - 06:48 PM.

this signature is an illusion and is a trap devised by satan. go ahead dauntlessly! make rapid progress!

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